


The Progression of the Divine Disease

by Zalphon



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 04:11:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16442741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zalphon/pseuds/Zalphon
Summary: A Priest of the Tribunal Temple does field research in order to learn more about the Divine Disease (AKA Corprus) and how it affects the Host.





	The Progression of the Divine Disease

 

**The Progression of the Divine Disease**  
_By Mehra Avalsi, Scribe Disciple_

The Divine Disease (also known as Corprus) is arguably the most feared disease across Vvardenfell and definitely the most misunderstood. It is well-documented and understood that the Blight is resulting from Dagoth Ur and Red Mountain, but what is not understood is the qualitative differences between the common illnesses that afflict us, the Blight, and the Divine Disease. Before I delve into the progression of the Divine Disease, I feel it is important to clarify the differences between these types of diseases.

Common diseases are naturally occurring and include illnesses such as Witbane and Rockjoint. These are carried by animals, in tombs, in caves, and other places rich in dust or mold. They are easily treatable and are typically not crippling.

Blight diseases are a result of Dagoth Ur beneath Red Mountain and are a small grouping of incredibly debilitating illnesses such as Ash-Chancre and Black-Heart Blight. These diseases are magical in nature in that they were created through the use of sorcery and can not be recovered from naturally.

The Divine Disease is not a disease you can catch directly (even from those afflicted with it), except from close concept with an Ash Poet’s proboscis. Even then, it is unlikely to catch it directly from another creature, but that does not mean it should not be feared. The traditional method of becoming infected with the incurable Divine Disease is that Blight diseases are special in that they are transitional. These are not illnesses that you naturally recover from, but they are illnesses that do eventually come to an end (although that end is not favorable). When the symptoms of the respective Blight begin to go into remission, that is when it is too late to prevent the transition to the Divine Disease, because at that point, the Divine Disease has already started to purge the body of other illnesses and ailments to create a blank slate for it to work.

The Divine Disease is divided into four stages.

**Stage I:** The host experiences a return to health as bodily ailments and diseases are purged from the body. They find a renewed vigor that they may not have felt in a considerable amount of time. Many hosts feel bittersweet at this stage, because while they know it is the calm before the storm, they feel good for the first time in a long time.

**Stage II:** The host begins to experience the development of painful tumors, as well as advanced muscular strength. At this stage, many hosts develop a choleric temperament as the gravity of their situation sets in. They often report that the tumors feel like a hot brand that can’t be removed. Some have gone so far as to cut it off, only for it to regrow in a matter of hours.

**Stage III:** The host is no longer safe to be around. They have developed a large amount of painful tumors and are consumed with rage. Hosts at this stage are frequently referred to as Corprus Stalkers by those in residence at the Ghostgate.

**Stage IV:** The host is incredibly dangerous at this stage. The bulk of their body mass is composed of these tumors and they have a superhuman strength only matched by the intensity of their pain-induced rage. Hosts at this stage are frequently referred to as Lame Corprus by those in residence at the Ghostgate.

My field research has led me to the conclusion that Stage IV Hosts are actually largely used as sources of food in Sixth House shrines and bases for the Dreamers in attendance. The Ash Poets will use special serrated blades to cut off large bits of mass from the Host and will wrap it in a wax paper for later consumption by the Dreamers. The Hosts do experience pain from this (as I witnessed during my field research), but do not strike against the Ash Poets who mutilate them. They remain relatively docile and are then herded back into cages for later butchering. They do have remarkably fast regeneration though which makes them a good food source to feed the Dreamers due to the effects of the Corprus.

Now we have explored the progression of the Divine Disease, but not all who get the Divine Disease reach Stage III or IV. Many of the Dunmer who are infected report an almost compulsory feeling that they should head towards Red Mountain, while this symptom is present in no other races at all. This leads me to believe that Ash Creatures are created exclusively from native Dunmer, while other races (and outlander Dunmer) are consigned to the eventual fate of becoming Stage IV Hosts if they are not killed before then.

My field research took me to Red Mountain where I followed a Stage II Host into the Citadel and got as close as I (safely) could to the Heart Chamber where Dagoth Ur and the Host were. I could only overhear bits of the conversation, but what I was able to make out was that Dagoth Ur was offering not only salvation from the ravages of the Divine Disease, but apotheosis. When the Host emerged from the chamber, his eyes and front portion of the brain cavity was completely hollowed out. He had been turned into what the Temple has classified as an Ash Zombie.

The Host seemed fine during the initial few days besides incoherent muttering to himself, but as the days passed, he grew to become paranoid and afraid of abandonment. He would frequently shout out to Dagoth Ur with cries of not being able to hear him and being tired. This is typical behavior as documented by other field researchers regarding Ash Zombies, but it was still discomforting given I had come to know this host well during our time together and during our journey out here. It was uncomfortable to hear his fear.

In the weeks that went by, I saw as the traditional snout-like proboscis of the Ash Poet began to form in the cavity. This was coupled with him coming more at ease with the changes he had made. I believe it was actually his growing comfort with what he had become that resulted in the ‘evolution’, if you will, of his snout. Within a few months, he had ascended fully into an Ash Poet which seemed remarkable that it could happen so quickly, but he was a remarkable individual before this, so it made since.

What I did not expect was that the Host would so quickly remember that I had gone with him into the Citadel. I had survived over the months on the scurrying of rats, the bugs, and the occasional mushroom I would find, but not much. He did not find it amusing that I had remained there as long as I had and from the snout of his proboscis and into my body went the Divine Disease.

I am welcomed here now as a member of the family who has not fully realized her place within the family. The urge to meet Dagoth Ur intensifies with every passing day, but I must finish this for anyone who finds it. The Host I came with has become more than an Ash Poet now. From the opening in his skull have come several more tentacles and he has become what they refer to as an Ascended Sleeper. His mindset is so alien to me, but I find myself growing increasingly fixated on his words—clinging to each one like a fly to honey or a moth to light. They are transcendent and as this disease ravages my body as I resist the urge to give of myself yet, I feel myself more and more enraptured by the words of the Ash Poets and the Ascended Sleepers. I find them more and more admirable with each passing day and I find my prayers wandering from prayers to be as the Tribunal to prayers to be worthy of such perfection.

It is almost sickening how much I envy the Host who I came here with. It has been months since I started writing this and I look at him and his perfect form—his beautiful body—and I hear his words which drip with wisdom unending and I find myself captivated. How perfect you are. How fortunate you are him in your mind—to feel his presence. Oh how I envy you.

I can resist no longer. I have spoken to the Ash Poets and they have agreed to take me before Dagoth Ur and I will undergo the Transformation. I will be beautiful like they. I will be wise like they. I will be loved liked they. I surrender myself to you, Dagoth Ur, I am yours and I can only pray that you find me worthy.


End file.
